Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-12-15
DECAY OF THE KNIGHTS.
6TRASsER OF THE clGARMAkERS PRE-
Diets X. OF |. DISSOLUTION.

He Gives the Order Couple of Years,
Perhaps, and Tells Why He Makes His
Prediction-Powderlys Strong Man and
Good Acror-Doings of the Federation
A Boycott Ordered on Beer.
BUFFALO, N. Y, Dec. l5.-The Illness Of
General Master Work Powderly causes
much anxiety in knights of Labor circles in
this city. Prominent knights profess TO be-
lieve that his enemies will seize upon the OPP
portunity to make further inroads upon his
position and undermine him. There is a
feeling of uneasiness among union men that
the internal troubles in the ranks of the Or
der may end in its disruption, and the trades
unions are not the least back ward in express
ing the opinion that the knights have reached
the pinnacle of greatness, and that the or
ganization is rapidly retrograding
Commenting upon the situation Adoph
Strasser, president of the International CT
gar-Makers' union, said: s'I am not surprised
at the trouble in the Philadelphia assembly,
for it only verifies my prediction made over
year ago, when l said that instead of some
700, 900 paper members in the Knights of La
Dor there would not be over 40, 900 at the
end of two years As matter of fact the
| real strength of the organization now is not
over 100, 900. The great strength Of the Or
ganiZation was in the New England states.
and it had some 100, 900 members there two
| years ago Now l doubt whether it has over
20, 000 The progress was too rapid. The
order swept over the country like great
wave 1t is bound to recede just as rapidly
as it advanced"
ha for
this reaction, is that men joined the order for
selfish motives, hoping to better their condi-
ton. That is the case, of course, in every Or
| ganization, but in the K. of l. the intention
of the members is not so much to better the
| condition of the workingmen, but for the in
crease of wages. 1t has not so much for its
/ object raising the standard of labor as in
creasing its pay. The result was any num-
Der of strikes, and as men can
| not live during a strike with
out money. and as funds failed to
come, the strikes were failures. But the great
| mistake was at the Cleveland convention,
when they rejected the overtures of
the trade unions. who offered a
| treaty in which we were to work in unison,
but to have control of our individual mat
tsrs. This they would not allow, and the
employers made up their minds to fight the
weaker organization, the Knights of Labor.
If the capitalists succeed in defeating then
then the unions will have to fight the next
battle
at is folly to assert, how ever, that there
will be break up within two weeks s
month, or year. Nor do l look for Pow
derly's downfall right away. be is a brainy
man; magnetic man, too; he is good &C
tor, and can cry ON the least provocation
genuine tears at that He always make.
friends, and men who are against him turn Il
his side when they hear him speak, for he ap
peals to the heart AMI not the head. Tn
palatial quarters in Philadelphia are not tn
cause of the downfall of the order by an,
means. 1t is the fact that those joining tbs
order did so to get money, not to pay Il
SCRANTON, Pa, Dec 15.-Mr. Powderll
was resting easier Wednesday afternoon, an,
seemed to be improving. kilograms of il
quiry and sympathy are being received b
! the hundred from all parts of the country
He slept soundly throughout the forenoon
DR.. Allen says that what his patient needs
rest and quiet, and his recovery, he predicts
! will be speedy.